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Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore joined Michigan Attorney General and 2002 gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Granholm at the Wayne State University School of Medicine on Sept. 18 as guests of the WSU student chapter of the American Medical Association and the Department of Family Medicine.

Moore, best known as the key architect of the $240 billion national tobacco settlement and for portraying himself in the 1999 Academy Award-nominated film The Insider, discussed the overwhelming opposition he faced in his fight against the tobacco industry and his continued commitment to anti-tobacco education.

“The number one cause of preventable death in this country is tobacco,” Moore said, citing successful public-education efforts in his home state. “In the state of Mississippi, we have seen a 30 percent reduction in teen smoking and a 40 percent reduction in the use of spit tobacco in just two years.”

Moore also told the audience, which was made up predominantly of medical students, about the power doctors have in the continued fight against tobacco use, both in setting the public-health agenda in this country and in one-on-one interactions with their patients.

Maryjean Schenk, MD, chair of the WSU Department of Family Medicine and one of the event sponsors, reiterated this point in her closing remarks to the students.

“The difference you can make in your role as physician is driven by your passion,” Dr. Schenk said. “We’ll give you the academic and clinical tools you need to succeed, but the passion has to come from within.”

Moore’s stop at WSU was part of a two-day visit to Michigan as a guest of the student-AMA chapters at Wayne State, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Notes

Honors

Rounds

Continuing Medical Education

Women's Health Lecture Series